Has the ECB’s monetary policy prompted companies to invest,or pay dividends?

This paper focuses on the influence of the European Central Bank’s (ECB) monetary policies on non-financial firms. It sheds light on non-financial firms’ decisions regarding leverage, and on how the ECB’s conventional and unconventional policies may have affected them. The paper also examines how these policies influenced non-financial firms’ decisions on capital allocation – primarily capital spending and shareholder distribution (for example, dividends and share repurchases). We use an exhaustive and unique dataset comprised of income statements and balance sheets of leading non-financial firms operating in the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). The main results suggest that ECB’s monetary policies have encouraged firms to raise their debt burden, especially after the global recession of 2008. Finally, the ECB’s policies, especially after 2011, also seem to have led non-financial firms to allocate more resources not just to capital spending but to shareholder distribution as well.     

AN EMPIRICAL STUDY OF A NEW CLASS OF NO-ARBITRAGE-BASED DISCRETE MODELS OF THE TERM STRUCTURE

We present empirical tests of the new no-arbitrage-based term structure paradigm in discrete time. We derive and test empirical specifications for deterministic one-factor forward rate volatility models and examine the compatibility of these forward rate volatility functions using term structure dynamics. Our estimation technique uses the generalized method of moments and is based on forward bond price deviations. We do not impose restrictions on the market price of risk, and we incorporate all available term structure information. Our data consist of four sets of pure discount bonds derived from the CRSP bond files and U.S. Treasury bill quotes.     

Measuring opinion distributions

In this study it will be argued that the perceived distribution of opinions among others is important for opinion research. Three different ways of measuring the perception of opinion distributions in survey research are compared: (a) by means of a questionwhat most people think about an issue, (b) by means of a questionhow many people are perceived to agree with an issue-statement, (c) by means of ‘line-production-boxes’, a special version ofmagnitude estimation. The results indicate that ‘line-production-boxes’ can improve data quality, but have also some drawbacks which will have to be dealt with. ‘Line-production-boxes’ give a wealth of information about individual differences in the forms of perceived opinion distributions. Although the normal distribution is used often, many other distribution forms are also used. The method of ‘line-production-boxes’ is compared with the method of estimating percentage points. Although high correlations suggest a good concurrent validity, some systematic differences do exist. New research directions are suggested.     

Alienation of marketing executives

Marketing executives form a distinct group for a study of alienation from the marketing system because of their conflicting roles. They are consumers of goods and services from the system. They contribute to its design and functioning. Based on a sample of 128 marketing executives in Singapore, this study found a strong relationship between alienation from the marketing system and approval of greater government intervention in it. It was also found that alienated executives felt that ethical standards of marketing had declined.Subhash C. Mehta is a Professor at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, India. Currently, he is a visiting Senior Teaching Fellow at the School of Management, National University of Singapore. Kau Ah Keng is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Management. National University of Singapore.     

Surveillant Science: Challenges for the Management of Rural Environments Emerging from the New Generation Diffuse Pollution Models

Current models of diffuse pollution are characterised by a progressive engagement with remotely‐sensed data coupled with more elegant modelling approaches. Central to these new models is the concept of connectivity, which leads to the identification and prioritisation of those landscape units (e.g., fields) where the consequences of land management activities are most readily transmitted to watercourses. The practice of diffuse pollution modelling using such models encounters certain problems. Following Brewer (1999) we argue that interdisciplinarity offers the opportunity to overcome these problems through: (1) its explicit recognition of the framing implicit in model development; (2) an emphasis on context in problem‐solving; (3) methodological pluralism; and (4) following from these other factors, the possibility of a different sort of engagement between land managers and modellers. Hence, the case for developing interdisciplinary approaches goes beyond the conventional dictates of problem‐led research and points to very different ways of conducting diffuse pollution research, taking on board the full dimensions of interdisciplinarity, with its emphasis on reflexivity, contextuality, substance and engagement.     

Bitcoin – Its Economics for Financial Reporting

Despite its increasing popularity, no official guidance on the financial reporting of Bitcoin transactions has been provided by standard setters, although tax accounting guidance began to appear in 2014. Designed as a decentralised currency, Bitcoin is not intended to become a reporting currency and will instead complement fiat money. We argue that in the case of Bitcoin the accounting principle of faithful representation requires interpretation of the economic substance for financial reporting that varies with reporting entity: trading firms recognise Bitcoin like a foreign currency and measure the revenue, or expense, at the equivalent amount of the reporting currency and digital currency exchanges recognise Bitcoin as goods in line with tax accounting treatment. An Economica paper by Radford (1945), which describes the use of cigarettes as commodity money in a prisoner of war camp alludes to this economic basis. This paper applies accounting principles to a practical issue and contributes to the process by which standard setters may issue an interpretation.     

Malaysian Multinational Firms and the Management of their Subsidiaries

There are limited studies on multinational enterprises from lesser developed and smaller Asian countries and even less attention given to the area of subsidiary management in Asian firms. This article contributes to this knowledge gap with empirical evidence from a study of nine case studies of firms from Malaysia, a rapidly developing country. Differences as well as commonalities in the management of their subsidiaries were found among sample firms. These findings are discussed in relation to the literature on management of subsidiaries in other Asian and developed countries’ firms. Implications for research and limitations of the study are covered.     

A regional perspective on inequality and growth in Portugal using panel cointegration analysis

This paper examines the relationship between inequality and economic growth for thirty Portuguese NUTS3 regions within a multivariate panel framework over the period 1995–2007, using panel cointegration techniques to test for the existence of a relationship between inequality and real GDP per capita. The results point to the existence of a relationship between the variables, where the effect of inequality, measured as the Gini index of the earnings distribution, on per capita output is negative. This negative influence seems to be determined by the behaviour of the bottom of the earnings distribution, most likely by dampening investment in human capital, with the results pointing to the coexistence of a positive impact of inequality at the top of the distribution, supporting the incentives argument for the inequality-growth nexus. Additionally, the results confirm the predicted positive relationship between human capital and output, lending support to both the exogenous and endogenous growth models predictions on the importance of human capital for production both as an input in the production of final goods and in the production of technology. Another interesting result concerns structural funds: we found a negative relation of this variable with regional output. We believe that EU structural funds were a source of Dutch disease for Portugal, which resulted mainly in a lack of external competitiveness of the Portuguese economy due to the excessive specialization in non-tradable goods made possible by the European funds.     

Through bubbles and crises: An analysis of the <Emphasis Type="Italic">Journal of Financial Services Marketing</Emphasis> from 2000 to 2012

This article presents an analysis of all publications of the Journal of Financial Services Marketing (JFSM), from 2000 until the end of 2012. The objectives of this study were: (i) to compare the subjects covered by the journal with industry trends, and identify opportunities for future research, and (ii) to assess the journal’s development over time and its influence in the field of financial services marketing. Data for this content analysis was collected manually from the publisher’s Website and from each paper, and a grounded theory approach was used to group the papers into clusters based on emerging themes. The study indicates that JFSM has been successful in covering the industry’s most important trends, including mobile banking, relationship management, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and service quality. A number of gaps were identified, in particular regarding mobile banking services and the impact of new online business models (for example, PayPal, crowdfunding, Bitcoin). These findings should assist JFSM’s editorial board to determine its future direction, and offer readers insight into industry trends and the journal’s role in covering them.     

Collective bargaining and regional wage differences in Spain: an empirical analysis

This article analyses the importance of labour market institutions and, in particular, collective wage bargaining in shaping regional wage differences in the Spanish labour market. Using microdata from the Spanish Structure of Earnings Survey, our results reveal that there are significant inter-regional wage differences for similarly skilled workers. These differences are present throughout the whole wage structure and can be explained by both competitive and non-competitive factors, such as insufficient competition in product markets. In this context, industry-level collective bargaining plays a major role in accounting for regional wage differences, a role that in the Spanish case is enhanced due to its unusual regional dimension.